Published 10:30 pm, Thursday, May 13, 2010

STAMFORD -- A city business owner has offered to contribute $300,000 to the city library system as part of a four-part plan to solve the library's financial crisis.

Richard Freedman, a real estate investment business owner and a longtime city volunteer, presented a plan to the Board of Finance Thursday that demands a multi-party compromise, including pumped-up fundraising from private sources and concessions from the city, Ferguson Library management and union employees.

The mayor and finance board have offered support for the resolution, which comes in the wake of library board warnings that the mayor's cut in library funding will force branch closures and drastically reduced hours.

"He stepped forward with a plan to help bridge the shortfall and the gap in funding for the Ferguson Library," Mayor Michael Pavia said as he introduced Freedman to the board Thursday. "We're in a new economic world and as a result of this new economic climate, we need to look at all available options."

Despite the city's enthusiasm for the proposal, the library board has come out against it, arguing the plan would improperly turn over control of the library's budget to a private contributor, as well as cement a trend of decreasing municipal support for the library.

"We think it will be a mistake to adopt a plan that will make the library an even smaller part of the city's budget," library board Vice Chair Kathryn Emmett said.

Emmett said the board is developing its own plan, which would pick up some of the shortfall through private fundraising.

Under the three-year plan, Freeman would contribute $150,000 in the first year, $100,000 in the second, and $50,000 in the third, provided the library agree to raise a matching private contribution during the first year, with private fundraising increasing by $50,000 each consecutive year.

The plan also demands the library cut costs, envisioning a $300,000 reduction in management costs and a re-opening of union contracts to reduce personnel costs by an additional $300,000 in the fiscal year beginning July 1. It would put a 3 percent cap on salary and benefit increases in following years, with a built-in no-layoff clause as a sweetener.

Finally, the plan asks the city to play a role by restoring $300,000 in municipal funding to the library in the coming fiscal year.

Ferguson library, which is 91 percent funded by the city, requested $8.2 million for the 2010-11 fiscal year. The mayor cut the request to $7 million, roughly an $850,000 cut from this year's budget. The request represented a $390,000 increase over this year's spending plan -- an amount the library said it needed to cover a 3.25 percent pay raise negotiated last July with 44 union members, as well as about $220,000 for pension and medical insurance costs.

City Director of Administration Fred Flynn said the city would be willing to contribute the money if the other parties agreed to the proposal.

Freedman, a former Board of Education president and owner of the real estate investment firm Gardens Home Management, said the plan took shape in his mind after he contributed $50,000 to the library in 2007 to prevent branch closures, yet saw the agency's fiscal crisis repeating year after year.

"The lesson I learned was, if you want to band-aid a situation, you write a check," he said. If you want to solve a situation, you write a plan and you staple your check to the plan."

Emmett argued the plan is unrealistic, demanding decreases in personnel costs that would be "impossible" without affecting library hours and services.

The Board of Finance voted 4-1 in favor of a resolution supporting the plan, with Chair Joe Tarzia calling it impressive.

Board Democrat Tim Abbazia cast the lone "nay" vote. Abbazia said he couldn't support the proposal if the library board does not. Like the board, he said the city should take more responsibility for library funding.

"I thought the mayor says he believes the library is a core service," Abbazia said. "If that is the case, then we should put the resources towards it like we do with education, police and fire."

Staff Writer Magdalene Perez can be reached at 203-964-2240, or magdalene.perez@scni.com.